Hoping for a tailwind

6/26 3am CEST

I watched the Holland v. Portugal match today in a bar at O'Hare airport. It was an interesting mix of folks that had taken pause from their travels to catch the match. I ended up chatting with a bunch of Englishman (who supported Everton, Mansfield, and Huddersfield, respectively). Interesting conversation. Turns out the McBride and Convey are the only two American soccer players in England that they respect. Just after halftime, a dutchman joined us and we hung on every futile Oranje attack with him. This match ended up looking a lot like the Italy v. USA match to me. Certainly not 'o Jogo Bonito' and the side I was supporting didn't win.

Because there was so much stoppage time, I had to run through K Concourse at O'Hare to catch my flight. Just as I was thanking my luck that not only did I get on board in time but that the only empty seat on the plane was the middle seat in my aisle, the pilot warned of pending weather delays out of Chicago...an hour later we were airborne. Let's hope the winds favor us as I only had a 80 minute connection in Brussels!

-- written Sun night / Mon morning, 33,000 ft above Northeastern Canada